MyHeritage VS Living DNA

UPDATED Oct. 2024
Table Of Contents+
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After making the initial decision to explore your ancestry and genetic origins, you are faced with a multitude of nuances, separating one ancestry DNA testing company from the next. MyHeritage and Living DNA are both excellent choices for the task at hand, but one will certainly come out on top once you identify your specific needs and expectations. Their services, although high-quality and professional, differ in small but important aspects, even though they seemingly do the same thing. Our comparison will help you spot those differences between MyHeritage and Living DNA, allowing you to make an optimal and fully personalized choice.

MyHeritage
Interdisciplinary ancestry exploration
VS
Living DNA
The most detailed DNA test available

Highlights

MyHeritage
MyHeritage offers ancestry DNA testing complemented by billions of genealogical records, allowing its users to get a complete picture of their genetic heritage and get in touch with unknown relatives.
  • Top-of-the-line sample processing facility/accurate results
  • Numerous features and subscription plans available to users
  • 45 million family trees, 3.9 billion profiles, 12.4 billion records
  • Price: $79.00
  • Shipping:Worldwide
Living DNA
Living DNA provides the most precise ethnic estimates on the market. Its ancestry test covers the biggest number of genetic populations, which translates to the most accurate genetic percentages.
  • 80 world regions covered, including 21 in the British Isles
  • 15-fold analysis of 650,000 genetic markers in your genome
  • Free shipping and result updates; raw DNA data download
  • Price: $156.00
  • Shipping:Worldwide

Compare Features

MyHeritage
Tests
MyHeritage offers one ancestry DNA test - MyHeritage DNA Test; The test explores your autosomal and gender genes for a full overview of your ethnic percentages. If you subscribe to the company's services, you can complement your final results with billions of genealogical records in its database.
Sample Collection Type
Cheek Swab
Genetic Markers Checked
690,000
Geographic Regions Covered
Unknown
Ancestral Makeup Report
Paternal Lineage
Maternal Lineage
Neanderthal Percentage
Native American DNA Coverage
Jewish DNA Coverage
Cousin matching
Database Size
New, Still Growing
Family Tree Integration
Chromosome Browser
Health Report
Average Result Time
3-4 Weeks
Research Participation
Raw Data Upload
Raw Data Download
Technology
Illumina
Privacy and Security
MyHeritage collects only the information necessary to provide its services, process payments, and give you the optimal ancestry DNA testing experience. You can delete or modify your personal info as many times as you choose and MyHeritage will never share, sell or lease it unless required to do so by law.
Living DNA
Tests
Living DNA offers one ancestry DNA test - Ancestry. The final report provides you with a thorough breakdown of your maternal and paternal ancestry, your haplogroup/subclade, and the migration map of your ancestors.
Sample Collection Type
Mouth Swab
Genetic Markers Checked
650,000
Geographic Regions Covered
80 Worldwide Regions
Ancestral Makeup Report
Paternal Lineage
Maternal Lineage
Neanderthal Percentage
Native American DNA Coverage
Jewish DNA Coverage
Cousin matching
Database Size
New, Still Growing
Family Tree Integration
Chromosome Browser
Health Report
Average Result Time
10-12 Weeks
Research Participation
Raw Data Upload
Raw Data Download
Technology
Custom Illumina OmniExpress
Privacy and Security
Living DNA is a holder of ISO:27001 certification, which signalizes optimal protection and security for your personal and genetic data. As your DNA sample is only connected to your unique ID number, not even its staff members will know your identity. Living DNA doesn't allow individuals under the age of 18 to get tested without the explicit consent of their parents or guardians.

Compare Ratings

MyHeritage
FINAL RATING
9.9/10
Scope Of DNA Test(s)
Test Processing Times
Privacy & Security
Value For Money
Overall Experience
Living DNA
FINAL RATING
9.7/10
Scope Of DNA Test(s)
Test Processing Times
Privacy & Security
Value For Money
Overall Experience

Compare User Reviews

MyHeritage
  • Submitted By Peter on 11/09/2019
    Unable to stop a subscription Be very careful with this company. The website is not that bad but once you want to stop your subscription it is very hard. They respond with an email but next year they just take money from your credit-card and keep your subscription. I have a bunch of emails where I confirmed that I really want to stop my subscription but again they took 189.01 euro. Be warned, do NEVER take a subscription at MyHeritage, they are scammers.
  • Submitted By E on 11/05/2019
    The worst! Our family took DNA tests as a group. After spending $$$, matches appeared on some of the family accounts and not on others. In other words, the match display were incomplete. (Obviously if you have a cousin who appears as a match on this site and every other DNA site, then you should appear as a match for them as well). MyHeritage support was a complete joke. Totally unhelpful, slow to respond, and moronic. Save your money and take literally any other DNA test!
  • Submitted By Antonina Starsinszky on 06/07/2019
    MyHeritage is great for family matches and such, but overly simplified in ethnicity. Mine showed I was 100% Eastern European only. That is very unlikely as I have never seen anyone else get 100%. Kinda cool, but not true. If you have more unique ancestry like tatar, udmurt, ossettian, or something like that it will brush over it and place it in a broad region. Good thing is you can upload your raw data to many other sites for free. !!!!! I uploaded to 5 others(get the most out of your money people) and they all showed diffirent variations of North Eastern slavic, Albanian, North European (disagreed if Im Scandinavian or British(from 12 to 24% so weird MyHeritage didnt catch it). GenePlaza were more spesific to put me as Norwegian, Scottish Argyll and Orkney for Northern Europe) and 4/5 of the others showed small percentage of Indian & South Asia! GenePlaza again traced it back to Gurjati indian which makes total sense knowing I have a great grand-parent of Romani(gypsy) decent. That site also placed me as Mordovian which is highly likely due to my geographical location. Generally yes its not wrong Im 100% ish eastern european. Since I am west Russian that could be similar to North Europe because of Viking influences in the past, and if Romani got lost in translation, but its such a boring result compared to what others give you. So I recommend MyHeritage only as a means to upload to other sites or for finding DNA matches only. They have great feutures for filtering relevant matches as well. + acsess to family tree if you pay.
  • Submitted By Marie Utley on 07/06/2019
    This is Marie, I love the time frame on our DNA test. To me they did a wonderful job, I was totally shocked by the results of where we was from. My daughter and I could not believe it. We really looked at each other and laughed, and it shocked us completely. But I believe it, and my son, we was "Totally" shocked about his DNA. They did a great job, and the price was justified as well. I will recommend them to the rest of my family members. Thank You! MyHeritage.com for doing a great job.
Living DNA
  • Submitted By Sandra on 08/15/2019
    I ordered two tests in December 2017. I did get results for the mitochondrial and Y DNA. To date only one match to my father which is me. My husband's test has no matches. He has a ton of matches on other sites. I have not had any other communications from this company. I uploaded a test from Ancestry in January 2018. It was my test and I did match my father. It is the only match out of three tests. I guess if I want more matches I will need to upload more tests from Ancestry? Does anyone have matches from this site? Am I doing something wrong or is this site a dead-end?
  • Submitted By Joseph Flores on 07/08/2019
    The best DNA company ever...accurate...on everything...my haplogroups ..im glad i tested with living DNA....23andme lousy always waiting for updates on what my ethnicity might turn out to be!same with all the other sites....not living DNA it gives me every thing on what i am ethnicity wise...thankyou living DNA
  • Submitted By Paul Dove on 05/24/2019
    I uploaded my DNA file, from Ancestry, and my wife's, from 23andme, and then waited and waited. A month later, after progressing through various stages of "testing", the status for both went back to Uploaded and hasn't changed since. No idea why but might be related to me deciding not to continue my membership of their partnering company Find my Past; without the DNA analysis I didn't see any point in continuing with Find my Past but I did expect to get DNA results eventually from Living DNA.
  • Submitted By RCCCCcweraer on 05/11/2019
    You do not want to use LivingDNA. They have operational and lab issues. They are disorganized, unable to respond even within a week to a question. They apparently outsource to two different labs in different countries and yet their business is in England. We started the process in January as as of today, no results. It doesn't matter if their testing is good, we can't get our results and how much confidence can we have when they are not operationally sound?

Winner

MyHeritage is a DNA testing provider founded in 2003 in Israel. It combines genetic research with genealogy, allowing its users to create family profiles, print family trees, share photos, perform DNA testing, perform MyHeritage DNA Health test, stay in touch with relatives, research family history, and much more. Read all about its services in our MyHeritage review.

* All the prices on this website are subject to change without notice. While we put a great deal of effort into making sure that all the prices are accurate, one or more products may have outdated prices. Please visit the specific product’s official website for exact prices.
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